Who said this at the latest researchED event in Toronto, Nov 10, 2017: “ Why is education the least empirical of all human pursuits? We need to build an empirical base.” ? Those may not be the exact words but I heard it over live broadcast and wasn’t there to note who said it or verify exact words.

Anyway, the point is that this conference was about sharing proven practices that work, and work repeatedly, in education. It was no surprise that such a statement should be made here. What remains is that there be a commitment to that mission, i.e., build that empirical base.

The definition of empirical is: “concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic”.

Paul, in reporting the growth of tutoring in Canada and other parts of the world says: “It’s no accident that the private tutors provide early reading instruction utilizing systematic phonics and most teach Math using traditional numbers based methods.” Apparently to counter the rather ineffective results from “Discovery Math” and “Whole Language”.

Not on the 21st Century Learning bandwagon is this list from the Edvocate with 10 Essential Skills For The Education Leader of Tomorrow, Nov 11, 2017 http://www.theedadvocate.org/10-essential-skills-education-leader-tomorrow/ #2 says: “The ability to implement large-scale turnarounds. The bar is set increasingly high for student achievement in numeracy and literacy.”

Seems simple, doesn’t it? That’s the priority. It certainly is for most parents — strong numeracy and literacy. That’s why the explosion in tutoring. These are needed skills for today and tomorrow. It’s the schools that are lagging!